I-95 Express Lanes Project may have environmental impact

WASHINGTON – Better transportation projects meant to keep areas moving may not be worth it if they come with a high environmental price tag. Some see flaws with the planning.

As work on the newly announced Interstate 95 Express Lanes Project begins, crews are removing about 100 acres of trees and shrubs to make room.

Most of the trees and shrubs will be torn away from the median of I-95 at the southern edge of the project, between Dumfries Road in Prince William County and Garrisonville Road in Stafford County. It’s an area that runs about 9 miles long.

“We found that the studies really didn’t look at community and environmental impacts very much, or alternatives for the corridor,” says Stewart Schwartz, head of the region’s Coalition for Smarter Growth.

The coalition says its mission is to ensure that transportation and development decisions accommodate growth while revitalizing communities, providing more housing and travel choices, and conserving natural and historic areas.

“It’s a shame we are not looking farther ahead in our planning,” says Schwartz.

“At some point you ask the highway engineers, ‘At what point would you stop widening the highway?’ But under their projections, you’d never stop widening the highway.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation says it has been engaged with the public in the planning for the project, however.